Release-joint for well-casings



P. S. HOVIS. RELEASE JOINT FOR WELL CASINGS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26. 1920.

iigmgwn Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

A a i j 5L. I w

UNlTED STATES PATENT QFFICE...

PARK S. HOVIS, 0F BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

RELEASE-JOINT FOR WELL-CASINGS.

Application filed November 26, 1920.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

it known that 1, Penn S. Hovls, a citizen of the United States, residing at Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Release-Joint for Nell-Casings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in casings and pipes for oil, gas and Artesian wells, wherein metal casings and pipes are sunk to a considerable depth in the earth, and particularly to improvements in my former invention for the same purpose, for which Letters Patent of the United States were issued to me, dated Sept. 19, 1916, No. 1,199,029.

Its object is principally to provide improved means for holding opposite members of the release-joint together while lifting or withdrawing such casings or pipes from wells of this character in case of abandonment of the well, or for any other reason requiring their withdrawal; and secondly to provide means for actuating both members rotarily, simultaneously in either direction after the members of the joint have been forced together as hereafter set forth.

It consists, in addition to providing a release-joint for the casing or pipe, whereby the main body of the casing may be withdrawn readily from the lower sections thereof, and leavingthe latter in the well, as shown in my said former patent, of means for threading and unthreading the pipe at said joint by preventing the members of the joint from rotating upon each other while the upper portion of the pipe or casing is being rotated, as experience has shown to be advantageous in certain cases, all as hereinafter more fully set forth and stated in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters and figures of reference indicate like parts.

Referring thereto, Figure l is a view in perspective of a release-joint section em bodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. 1 on the dotted line 22 thereof; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same, showing the parts of the joint section in closed relation to each other.

In the drawings, A and B are the two parts of my release-joint section, which register, one over the other at their intersection and are adapted to be separated by the Withdrawal of the upper portion of the Specification of Letters Iatent.

, Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Serial No. 426,633.

casing from the well in case the lower end portion thereof becomes fast in the earth, as commonly occurs in deep well drilling.

To provide for holding the adjacent sections of the well casing together so as to be impervious to either water or gas, I provide as in my said former patent, a sleeve portion A, which is threaded at its upper end E to engage the adjacent section of the 6 well casing above it, and adapt a lower portion B to couple with said sleeve by a snugly fitting neck C detachably secured thereto,

' the lower portion being also threaded at its the corresponding rim (Z which projects downwardly over said neck from a sleeve or collar D surrounding the same. The sleeve D projects downwardly from the upper part of the joint A terminating with the said rim 0?. An annular rim ais also constructed in like manner on the interior of the sleeve portion D where the latter terminates upwardly, and is adapted to meet and register with the corresponding rim b which projects upwardly within said sleeve around the top of the neck C. For better prevention of the escape of water and gas between the parts of the joint I cut a shallow furrow in one or both of said rims and fill up the furrow with a softer metal-such as lead or block tin, as heretofore which serve as a pliable cushion, the several parts being fitted to meet simultaneously, against each other, respectively.

To hold said parts A and B either partly separated, as shown in Fig. 2, or with said rims in contact, as shown in Fig. 3, I pass threaded bolts made of some soft metal such as copper, or the like,through said sleeve and neck at a plurality of points sui'licient to hold the joint from separating under ordinary pressure, and adapted to be sheared off by forcing the parts together or a part as the case may be, thus leaving the part of the casing above the joint free therefrom, and leaving the part of the casing below the joint to remain in the well.

Heretofore all said release bolts were made alike, and to be sheared off simultaneously by forced pressure in either longitudinal direction.

' preventing one part from rotating upon the ber of said bolts remain unsheared ofi byv the downward pressure or bringing of the parts of the joints together, and a number thereof which can be sheared off only when the parts are drawn apart, said unsheared bolts serving meanwhile to afford meansfor other when the casing is rotated above the joint.

Accordingly I construct, in ad'ditlon to the release bolts heretofore .employed apart. It will be seen that the only be sheared off when the parts of themarlred e ea plurality of similar bolts marked 7' f-andmake for the latter corresponding longitudinal slots 9 g, eitherin the neck C or in the sleeve D, as may be prefer-red, of suflicient length to permit the parts to meet together endwise without shearing off said bolts; and I So looate the upper part of the said slots, respectively, as

to coact with the bolts '6 c and thus give added strength to the joint when the pressure is in one direction vertically, and less resistance is afforded to their being drawn bolts f f can joint'are being drawn apart, the other bolts being sheared off by movement in either 'ver- 1 tical direction.

By this means I provide means for rotating the lower part'of thejoint by the rotation thereon of the upper part after the bolts together 6 e have been sheared off as aforesaid, leavmg the bolts 7' f to be sheared off when the members of the oint are drawn apart as aforesaid, and at thesame time I preserve --all the advantages of a release joint which is grfendered impervious while in use, as heretoore.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A release jointi'or well casings and pipes, comprising, in combination a pair of opposite pipe coupling sections removably fitted a projecting sleeve on one section provided with an annular rim; a neck projecting from the oppositesection provided with an annular rimthe rims adapted to coact upon each other; and means, including one or more soft metal bolts, for holding tentatively the opposite rims apart, and for releasing said sections from each other by longitudinal draft in one direction; and one or more soft metal bolts operative in longitudinal slots within said joint, substantially as set forth and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Wooster, Ohio, this 27th day of August, 1920.

PARK S. HOVIS In presence of two witnesses:

CHARLES C. JoNns, HIRAM SWARTZ 

